Last modified: Sat 4/26/97 0430 PDT
 Canon Terms |
Object | Classes | DependentBiostructure; |
| Instances | (none) | ||
| Event | Classes | (none) | |
| Instances | (none) |
A dependent biostructure is a Physical Agent which is part of a Living Agent but which does not itself exhibit the phenomenon of life. All dependent biostructures are ultimately aggregates of biomolecules in very specific physical configurations.
A cellular membrane is a dependent biostructure which serves to enclose part or all of the cell.
A plasma membrane (sometimes called a cell membrane) is the membrane which encloses an entire cell. It plays a pivotal role in the diffusion of matter between a cell and its environment.
The cytoplasm of a cell is a dependent biostructure, consisting mostly of water, in which the other parts of the cell are suspended.
A cytoskeleton is a filamentous dependent biostructure within a cell which gives the cell its shape, anchors other dependent biostructures in place, and moves material from one part of a cell to another.
The extracellular matrix is a dependent biostructure outside the plasma membrane of some cells.
A cell wall is a dependent biostructure outside the plasma membrane of the cells of some organisms.
Other dependent biostructures in the interior of a cell are called organelles.
A virus is a dependent biostructure which contains a genome. A virus has the ability to cause its genome to be incorporated into that of a living cell (which the virus is said to infect) such that the cell's metabolism creates new individuals of the virus. Some people consider viruses to be organisms in their own right. The study of viruses is the subject matter of virology, part of biology.